Can You Give a Dog a Decongestant?
Congestion often occurs because the blood vessels in the nose swell, reducing the amount of air that can flow through the nose and, consequently, making it difficult to breathe. So, people suffering from stuffy noses often take decongestants to feel better.
Decongestants help reduce the size of the blood vessels, which allows more air to flow through the nasal passages and allows the mucus to drain away.
Dogs can benefit from decongestants in the same manner. However, you should never give your dog a decongestant — or start any other treatment option — without first consulting your vet. Some decongestants are actually combination medications which contain other, potentially harmful, drugs.
Additionally, decongestants are not suitable for dogs suffering from some health conditions.
You’ll also need to know the proper dosage to provide your dog. Only your vet can determine the correct dosage for your pooch, which further highlights the importance of veterinary assistance when dealing with a congested pet.
For that matter, you’ll also need an accurate weight, which your vet is better prepared to determine than you are.
If your dog is healthy and not on any medications, you may be able to consult a vet online through the Just Answer service, which can put you in touch with a vet over a live chat. You can even share videos or s and get an instant diagnosis from them.
Why Do Dogs Get Stuffy Noses?
Dogs suffer from stuffy noses for a variety of reasons, including several which can cause similar symptoms in humans.
Some of the most common causes of nasal congestion in dogs include:
Less frequently, dogs may suffer from congestion as a side effect of heart disease. There are also a few ailments that seem to afflict some breeds more than others.
For example, lymphocytic-plasmacytic rhinitis – a condition which causes nasal discharge and irritation – most commonly afflicts dachshunds.
How do I treat my dog’s stuffy nose?
Fortunately, treating your dog’s blocked nose is relatively straightforward and full recovery can be expected in a fairly short time frame.
Often the cause of the blocked nose will be an infection of some sort. Your vet will prescribe a course of antibiotics lasting for 10 to 21 days to tackle the problem. The dog will be fully recovered in 2-3 weeks, possibly less.
If your vet can ascertain the issue is the result of an allergy, they will isolate the allergy to identify it, then you will have to make some steps towards minimizing your dog’s contact with the guilty allergen. Your dog’s nasal passages will recover as soon as they are kept away from the allergen.
If the blocked nose is a result of an underlying problem, alternative medication will be prescribed. If it’s a tumor, surgery may be required. Full recovery from surgery could take several months.
So there are several treatment options for your dog’s blocked nose, all depending on the cause. Usually you can expect full recovery in just a few weeks. However, in more complicated cases, more serious treatment and a longer recovery time should be expected.
How to Relieve a Dog’s Stuffy Nose
It’s never nice when you can hear your poor pup suffering, and when it comes to congestion in dogs, you can REALLY hear them suffering. Dogs that don’t usually snore will snore louder than you’ve ever heard in your life; and they won’t want to run around and play as much. That’s before you get to the awful crackling, wheezing sound that often accompanies a congested respiratory system in canines.
There are a fair few medical conditions that cause canine congestion. It is more often than not a symptom of something else rather than a problem all its own, just as it is with humans. The spectrum of medical conditions associated with this symptom is very broad, however. It is virtually impossible to diagnose at home.
According to research, dog congestion is a term used when a dog’s nasal part of the respiratory system is overloaded with naturally produced mucus. It is also known as sinusitis or rhinitis, which is also commonly suffered by humans, too.
The membranes in the nose that produce the mucus will swell, along with producing more. This leads to wheezing, sticky-sounding breathing, coughing, and airflow restriction.
The naturally produced mucus is supposed to get rid of any disease-causing pathogens, dust, etc., that enter the nose, but when too much of it is produced and the passages swell, the poorly pup gets what is essentially a stuffy and blocked nose. (And we all know how unpleasant that feels!)